Do we have a real perpception of our weight? Do we know if we are really overweight or not? This is what researchers at the University of Illinois investigated when they surveyed over 3,500 college applicants, as part of the Up Amigos project, a collaboration with the Mexican Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosi. More than a third couldn't report their weight accurately, and overweight and obese men were more likely to underestimate their weight than women.
In contrast to what one would thought, almost half of the male volunteers underestimated their weight. Females were more realistic, as 21.2% believed that they were overweight when 27.8% of women were actually overweight or obese. This is even more worrying in the adolescence. According to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, American teens are even less likely to report their weights correctly.
Very few participants in the Mexican study overestimated their weight, but those who did were most often female, younger, had parents with less education, and watched more television. Ideal body image changes with exposure to Western media, the researchers noted. The curvier female figure once appreciated in Latino culture is being replaced by the ultra-thin ideal promoted by Western advertisers.
